Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Kalandra, the acclaimed Norwegian/Swedish quartet have once more surfaced from the studio armed with a set of songs that bring light to the moody darkness, a haunting to the soul which causes the listener to once more understand a significance of the Nordic influence on the psyche of the northern nations, a near unique sensation which delves back to the exploration of other lands, perhaps of conquest, but certainly of inspiration that the lands towards the Arctic held.
Following on from last year’s single, Ghosts, the sense of continued confidence that first introduced itself in England in the venues dotted around Liverpool, is mined even further, the resonating rawness that unleashed as Mørketid reveals the polar night by which some will sail by in search of beauty, whereas the enlightened and the consistent will use to navigate the sense of nostalgic truth.
Known for their cool delivery of melancholic, emotional atmospheric songs, ones that have set the listener’s heart’s a flutter, ones that have created and weaved magical sonic journeys in the releases of The Line and A Frame Of Mind, this four track E.P. is one of conviction and reimagination, of two seismic original recordings and two deeply fused essences of covers combining strength and the sense of fortitude required to adapt to winter’s veil and come through back to the light, the renewal that spring must come.
Through the tracks Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker (translated as My Heart Always Wanders), Till The End, the aforementioned Ghosts, and the Norwegian anthem Hymna Til Bllåfjell, which conjures up images of the realm of mountains and the purity of air and scenic attraction, are in essence a projection of the short days insistence of rest, renewal, and memories of those we may have lost along the way.
A dramatic and passionate E.P. one to which Kalandra have once again delved deep into the sensitive and beguiling with a sense of ease and dedication, Mørketid is an escape into a place of happenings and reason, of drama, and of the pursuit of elegance. Just sensational.
Ian D. Hall